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| Obama Heads Overseas, Where Topic of Trump Will Follow Him | Obama Heads Overseas, Where Topic of Trump Will Follow Him |
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| WASHINGTON — On his last foreign trip while in office, President Obama will have a lot of explaining to do. | WASHINGTON — On his last foreign trip while in office, President Obama will have a lot of explaining to do. |
| For the last year, almost as soon as the reporters left and the doors closed, world leaders had asked Mr. Obama whether Donald J. Trump had a real shot at winning the presidency. | For the last year, almost as soon as the reporters left and the doors closed, world leaders had asked Mr. Obama whether Donald J. Trump had a real shot at winning the presidency. |
| Mr. Obama’s answer was always emphatic: Not a chance. | Mr. Obama’s answer was always emphatic: Not a chance. |
| On Monday evening, the president will begin a journey that will take him to Greece, Germany and Peru. At every stop, Mr. Obama will be asked how he could have been so wrong. | On Monday evening, the president will begin a journey that will take him to Greece, Germany and Peru. At every stop, Mr. Obama will be asked how he could have been so wrong. |
| Intended as a valedictory tour, the trip will now be shadowed by the uncertainty that Mr. Trump’s election has cast over Mr. Obama’s most cherished foreign policy priorities. Among them are an unquestioned commitment to NATO, freer trade around the world, the nuclear deal with Iran, the Paris climate accord, a hard line on Russian meddling and a tolerant attitude toward refugees. | Intended as a valedictory tour, the trip will now be shadowed by the uncertainty that Mr. Trump’s election has cast over Mr. Obama’s most cherished foreign policy priorities. Among them are an unquestioned commitment to NATO, freer trade around the world, the nuclear deal with Iran, the Paris climate accord, a hard line on Russian meddling and a tolerant attitude toward refugees. |
| Mr. Trump has promised to rethink or simply reject these hard-won and, in some cases, decades-old covenants. | Mr. Trump has promised to rethink or simply reject these hard-won and, in some cases, decades-old covenants. |
| Nonetheless, Mr. Obama intends to exhort his counterparts to hold fast even if the United States’ commitment falters. But amid a tide of populist right-wing fury — the same forces that helped sweep away Hillary Clinton’s hopes — Mr. Obama’s final plea to world leaders is likely to be greeted with polite ambivalence. Some have taken political risks under the assumption that the American people would support freer trade and carbon emission reductions. | Nonetheless, Mr. Obama intends to exhort his counterparts to hold fast even if the United States’ commitment falters. But amid a tide of populist right-wing fury — the same forces that helped sweep away Hillary Clinton’s hopes — Mr. Obama’s final plea to world leaders is likely to be greeted with polite ambivalence. Some have taken political risks under the assumption that the American people would support freer trade and carbon emission reductions. |
| In Europe, Mr. Obama will again talk about democracy. In the 71 years since the defeat of fascism there, leaders who pledged allegiance to democratic ideals have maintained membership in NATO and other Western organizations, even if they have sometimes failed to fully pay their dues. But Mr. Trump has made clear that he intends to view NATO as he does his own Mar-a-Lago Club: Stiff the check and you lose member privileges. | In Europe, Mr. Obama will again talk about democracy. In the 71 years since the defeat of fascism there, leaders who pledged allegiance to democratic ideals have maintained membership in NATO and other Western organizations, even if they have sometimes failed to fully pay their dues. But Mr. Trump has made clear that he intends to view NATO as he does his own Mar-a-Lago Club: Stiff the check and you lose member privileges. |
| The trip’s final stop, in Lima, Peru, at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, will probably be the most difficult. Many of the leaders Mr. Obama will meet with there spent considerable time and political capital over the past two years negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that now has no chance of going into effect. | The trip’s final stop, in Lima, Peru, at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, will probably be the most difficult. Many of the leaders Mr. Obama will meet with there spent considerable time and political capital over the past two years negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that now has no chance of going into effect. |
| Mr. Obama is expected to have a bilateral meeting in Lima with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, with whom Mr. Obama struck a landmark climate agreement in 2014 that set the stage for the Paris accord a year later. Mr. Trump has called the concept of climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to hobble American manufacturing. | Mr. Obama is expected to have a bilateral meeting in Lima with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, with whom Mr. Obama struck a landmark climate agreement in 2014 that set the stage for the Paris accord a year later. Mr. Trump has called the concept of climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to hobble American manufacturing. |
| The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will also be there, just after meeting with Mr. Trump in the United States. Mr. Trump has denounced Japan for decades as a trade and military freeloader. | The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will also be there, just after meeting with Mr. Trump in the United States. Mr. Trump has denounced Japan for decades as a trade and military freeloader. |
| Originally, the trip to Lima was the only scheduled stop, but Mr. Obama added Athens, where he plans to land on Tuesday morning, because he has never been there and wanted to see the Parthenon. He decided to deliver in the cradle of democracy a speech on inclusion and global integration. | Originally, the trip to Lima was the only scheduled stop, but Mr. Obama added Athens, where he plans to land on Tuesday morning, because he has never been there and wanted to see the Parthenon. He decided to deliver in the cradle of democracy a speech on inclusion and global integration. |
| He tacked on Berlin because he wanted to bid farewell to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, his closest foreign partner, and meet with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy to encourage their efforts to maintain sanctions on Russia and bolster the fight against the Islamic State. He is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday night. | He tacked on Berlin because he wanted to bid farewell to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, his closest foreign partner, and meet with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy to encourage their efforts to maintain sanctions on Russia and bolster the fight against the Islamic State. He is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday night. |
| “I’m not sure the visits, while well intended, will now do anything to improve the relationships in the wake of Trump’s win,” Heather A. Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in an interview. “I think they will just sow more doubts.” | “I’m not sure the visits, while well intended, will now do anything to improve the relationships in the wake of Trump’s win,” Heather A. Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in an interview. “I think they will just sow more doubts.” |
| The Athens speech had not been written before Tuesday’s election, said Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser who will accompany the president. But plans for it have changed, Mr. Rhodes added. | The Athens speech had not been written before Tuesday’s election, said Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser who will accompany the president. But plans for it have changed, Mr. Rhodes added. |
| “Look, we certainly expect that the election will be the primary topic on people’s minds everywhere we go,” Mr. Rhodes told reporters Friday in a conference call. | “Look, we certainly expect that the election will be the primary topic on people’s minds everywhere we go,” Mr. Rhodes told reporters Friday in a conference call. |
| Mr. Obama met with Mr. Trump for 90 minutes on Thursday in the Oval Office. But Mr. Rhodes would not say whether Mr. Obama intended to brief the world leaders on what he had learned from Mr. Trump. | Mr. Obama met with Mr. Trump for 90 minutes on Thursday in the Oval Office. But Mr. Rhodes would not say whether Mr. Obama intended to brief the world leaders on what he had learned from Mr. Trump. |
| “I think President Obama will be speaking for himself and for the office of the presidency,” Mr. Rhodes said. “I do think he can convey, obviously, that the United States of America fulfills its commitments through democratic transitions and through different administrations.” | “I think President Obama will be speaking for himself and for the office of the presidency,” Mr. Rhodes said. “I do think he can convey, obviously, that the United States of America fulfills its commitments through democratic transitions and through different administrations.” |
| Europe has long been friendly to Mr. Obama; he represented a break from his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, whose unilateralism and decision to invade Iraq were deeply unpopular there. But Mr. Trump’s election has led to a broad reassessment. | Europe has long been friendly to Mr. Obama; he represented a break from his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, whose unilateralism and decision to invade Iraq were deeply unpopular there. But Mr. Trump’s election has led to a broad reassessment. |
| Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, published a cover last week with a cartoon of a comet in the shape of Mr. Trump’s head hurtling toward Earth. The headline read, “The end of the world (as we know it).” | Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, published a cover last week with a cartoon of a comet in the shape of Mr. Trump’s head hurtling toward Earth. The headline read, “The end of the world (as we know it).” |
| “Many Germans are deeply disillusioned,” said Holger Stark, a Der Spiegel correspondent. “The overwhelming feeling is that the U.S. has now lost its role as a beacon and messenger of the free world.” | “Many Germans are deeply disillusioned,” said Holger Stark, a Der Spiegel correspondent. “The overwhelming feeling is that the U.S. has now lost its role as a beacon and messenger of the free world.” |
| Europe has its own set of populist right-wing movements that have been enlivened by slow economic growth and increasing nativism. Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union had many parallels with Mr. Trump’s victory. And elections are on the horizon in Italy, France and Germany. | Europe has its own set of populist right-wing movements that have been enlivened by slow economic growth and increasing nativism. Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union had many parallels with Mr. Trump’s victory. And elections are on the horizon in Italy, France and Germany. |
| Facing such uncertainties, the world leaders may not be receptive to some of Mr. Obama’s urgings, including one for debt relief for Greece, something that would infuriate right-wing populists even more. | Facing such uncertainties, the world leaders may not be receptive to some of Mr. Obama’s urgings, including one for debt relief for Greece, something that would infuriate right-wing populists even more. |
| “The president’s challenge is to offer reassurance about the enduring commitment of the United States for engagement in the region, notwithstanding that the president-elect has offered a different vision,” said Meredith Miller, who was a national security aide to Mr. Bush. “It won’t be easy.” |